As a seasoned gamer who’s seen the rise and fall of many gaming eras, I must say that Tokyo Clanpool is a peculiar gem that harks back to the days of the PS Vita. With its quirky blend of dungeon-crawling, strategic combat, and intricate systems, it’s like a walk down memory lane – if that memory lane was cluttered with forgotten relics from the past.
2024 has been an exceptional year for first-person dungeon explorers. I might have made this statement before, but it remains accurate. From the original in Wizardry to captivating indie games and all that’s in between, fans of first-person dungeon crawling have had a feast. This genre has turned into something of a passion project for me, so it seems fitting to wrap up my yearly reviews with one from this genre. Unfortunately, 2024 won’t end with a grand finale or even a quiet conclusion; instead, it’s more like an unusual sound that could be either a sign of distress or enjoyment you might not want to join in on. Or perhaps you do, I’m not here to decide. I’m here to discuss Tokyo Clanpool, a relic from the era of DRPGs (tactical RPGs) on PlayStation Vita, and if you understand that term, it speaks volumes about this game.
Don’t ask me what “Clanpool” means
Tokyo Xarjee hails from Idea Factory and Compile Heart, and shares a creative gene pool with the Hyperdimension Neptunia series. It adheres to a similar blueprint, featuring a blend of humorous anime stereotypes, playful innuendo, and an intricate mix of game systems that seem like a jumbled assortment of items tossed into a car’s trunk in a crowded Walmart parking lot – tools, groceries, trash, and the occasional cool item. These games are often criticized for their quirky nature, but over time I’ve grown to appreciate their unyielding spirit and admire their creativity in combat systems. Occasionally, games like Fairy Fencer or Mary Skelter emerge, not only offering enjoyable gameplay, but also displaying thoughtful writing in unexpected ways.
Regrettably, the game Tokyo Clanpool lacks polish in its writing, yet it boasts an eccentric concept that brings about a smirk. Essentially, this is a common Magical Girl narrative, but with an administrative twist. Japan has been ravaged by monsters, and a team of girls endowed with unique abilities have risen to maintain human existence. Instead of functioning as independent superheroes or the like, they’ve seized control of the Japanese government, pushing aside the struggling Self-Defense Forces and taking charge of the Diet. Each Minister in the cabinet is either a formidable combat hero or performs some sort of magical support role (they manage the shops and special features), collectively known as the Diet Dolls. I was expecting this game to emphasize humor more, like the Neptunia series does, but unfortunately, most of these elements serve as background noise while the uninspired anime-style plot follows predictable storylines. It’s disappointing because on paper, the concept is quite intriguing.
Watch your step!
As a devoted admirer, I’d describe Tokyo Clanpool as an old-school, Wizardry-esque, first-person dungeon exploration game that’s refreshingly hardcore. Despite the relatively easy difficulty level, you’ll find yourself immersed in dealing with numerous hazards and challenges. You’ll be employing a variety of tools to burrow into walls, dodge collapsing floors, glide over chasms, and much more. These tools are battery-operated, compelling you to locate (and strategize around) battery stations, or make tough choices with limited resources to reach the next level before retreating back. Unlike many DRPGs, Tokyo Clanpool integrates traps and floor hazards into a unique system, requiring a dedicated mechanic for progress. This is just one of the game’s numerous innovative features!
In this game, although the whimsical plot doesn’t always align with the writing quality, it gains momentum during the dungeon scenes. The Diet Dolls, a small, unconventional government body, appear to shun traditional tax collection. Instead, they share their escapades with the last vestiges of humanity and solicit donations, reminiscent of political fundraisers on Twitch rather than election campaigns. Your popularity increases with each exploration and combat encounter, and achieving milestones grants temporary benefits such as stat upgrades, healing, or other rewards. At the end of your term, various parliamentary bodies vote for the Diet Doll who has contributed the most, rewarding them with extra experience points and advantages for future missions. This aspect is quite humorous, and I wish the entire game had maintained a similar tone, but unfortunately, it does not.
Noteworthy aspects encompass a quirky mechanism reminiscent of Pokémon, allowing players to construct, merge, enhance, and accessorize digital sprites known as Gadgettia. In return for nurturing these entities, they might endorse you during votes following a run. Although it seems budget-restricted, with much palette swapping, it adds depth to character development that I find intriguing. This system intertwines with equipment, where abilities reside; characters typically don’t learn many themselves. Combining these skill sets leads to characters interacting with each other based on compatibility factors like combo percentages and unique move equations, resulting in a chain reaction effect observable both during combat and stat upgrades. Essentially, interactions between elements feel interconnected, similar to a dynamic chain reaction. In essence, Compile Heart excels in creative domains that are often underestimated. However, there are valid reasons for the cautious reception, which we’ll discuss shortly, once I’ve adequately prepared myself to tackle uncharted waters.
The dark side of the PS Vita
Essentially, we can rephrase the given text as follows:
I didn’t know this before I started playing it, but Tokyo Clanpool, originally released on the Vita in 2017, was one of those games. “Was” being a key word, in an interesting twist of fate. Tokyo Clanpool also wasn’t actually localized, presumably because by that time it wasn’t worth the effort. In the years since, content standards from platform holders have changed a lot and are still changing. Idea Factory and Compile Heart are currently dealing with a situation at Nintendo, which up until now hasn’t been a problem, while Sony was taking the much more aggressive “censorship” positions in recent years. At the same time, Steam has been making strange decisions to not host games like this, while still allowing literal pornography from non-Japanese developers. I’m no conspiracy theorist, but it’s been an odd, quietly-developing story pretty much since the PS4 launched. It’s also the apparent reason Tokyo Clanpool is launching on GOG, and publisher eastasiasoft is only offering an Asia-region Switch version.
Wait, what?
Despite the publisher’s efforts to bypass platforms and resist censorship, and the apparent crackdown on explicit content in some games by platform-holders, it turns out that the controversial aspect of Tokyo Clanpool is absent from this version altogether. However, a mini-game that I feared would reappear never materialized. Instead, the game skipped straight to the result, offering me a trivial stat boost as a consolation prize. I was initially concerned, given my professional background, but upon further attempts, I found that the problematic content remains unavailable, even after waiting for several hours. So, in a sense, Tokyo Clanpool has managed to avoid modern censorship, though some eager players might feel disappointed by this development.
Interestingly enough, Tokyo Clanpool does have moments that might be considered suggestive or provocative at times. However, it’s important to note that overall, the series is significantly less explicit than it may initially seem. It’s like a more mature version of Sailor Moon targeted towards teenagers, but not by a huge margin. The narrative, unfortunately, isn’t particularly engaging and often takes a backseat. We’re not exactly roaring with laughter at its humor, as seen in Neptunia, but we also aren’t misrepresenting it. Instead, we find ourselves in a sort of limbo, due to the questionable aspects being trimmed out in a manner that somewhat resembles Fate/Stay Night, though that game was masterfully written, even when it delved into adult themes.
But hey, dungeon-crawling! I liked most of the systems Tokyo Clanpool offers, especially how they all revolve around each other. Synergy in RPGs is great! The only problem here is that combat proceeds at a ludicrously slow pace, and doesn’t have much in the way of flourish. It’s mostly slowly-scrolling text in front of wobbling enemy art, with chibi character portraits occasionally appearing when something cool happens. But they just kind of appear and vanish without doing anything, once again giving off a low budget vibe regardless of what the budget may have actually been. I ended up holding down the fast-forward button for most combat encounters, which is a bad sign for a game that’s mostly combat encounters.
That was a lot, I admit. But a review like Tokyo Clanpool requires context to get the full picture for what makes this game interesting. Otherwise it would just be an odd dungeon-crawler that feels out of place in time and space. That’s not nearly as fun to talk about, and if I had to re-live trauma from the PS Vita years, I may as well share with the whole class. Tragic backstories aside, Tokyo Clanpool seems like the kind of quirky, yet intense DRPG I’d be all the way into, like a Class of Heroes or even Witch and Lilies. Instead of being rough around the edges it’s mostly just boring, with some interesting systems that are fun to think about and watch come together, but don’t result in a spark that makes the gameplay fun. Luckily for the DRPG fans out there, 2024 has seen several alternatives that are much more worth their time.
As a thrilled enthusiast, I’m excited to share that Tokyo Clanpool is set to release on December 19, 2024. It will be exclusively available on GOG for PC users, and for Nintendo Switch fans in the Asia region with their region-specific codes. Remarkably, I was fortunate enough to receive a review code for the PC version from the publisher itself!
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2024-12-19 17:28